Heinz Awards: Doc in Flint, Michigan, water crisis, 4 others

FILE – In this Feb. 10, 2016, file photo, pediatrician Mona Hanna-Attisha testifies about lead contamination of the Flint, Mich., water supply during a hearing of the U.S. House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Pittsburgh-based Heinz Family Foundation announced five individuals Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017, selected to receive this year's $250,000 prizes from the foundation, including Hanna-Attisha, who helped call attention to childhood health risks from exposure to lead in the Flint, Mich., water supply. The winners will be honored at an Oct. 18, 2017, banquet.
Andrew Harnik, FileAP Photo

FILE – In this Sept. 18, 2012, file photo, U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey poses outside the office of Delta State University's president before attending a luncheon in Trethewey's honor in Cleveland, Miss. The Pittsburgh-based Heinz Family Foundation announced five individuals Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017, selected to receive this year's $250,000 prizes from the foundation, including Trethewey, who was a two-term U.S. poet laureate and has written about racial and social issues in the American South. The winners will be honored at an Oct. 18, banquet.
Rogelio V. Solis, FileAP Photo

FILE – In this May 19, 2016, file photo, chemist Joseph DeSimone stands as President Barack Obama presents him with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington. The Pittsburgh-based Heinz Family Foundation announced five individuals Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017, selected to receive this year's $250,000 prizes from the foundation, including DeSimone, an expert in polymeric materials honored for his research and his efforts to commercialize technology used in 3-D printing and other fields. The winners will be honored at an Oct. 18, banquet.
Carolyn Kaster, FileAP Photo

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By JOE MANDAK Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

A pediatrician who helped call attention to childhood health risks from exposure to lead in the Flint, Michigan, water supply is one of five people being honored with $250,000 prizes from the Pittsburgh-based Heinz Family Foundation.

The foundation awards recognize innovative work in the arts, environment, human condition, public policy and economics categories.

An associate professor of pediatrics at Michigan State University, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, won the public policy award Thursday for a study published in 2015 that showed Flint's children were exposed to lead levels deemed dangerous by government regulators.

Because lead poisoning can't be reversed, Hanna-Attisha has led programs to aid early childhood development, improve nutrition and otherwise mitigate effects that lead can have on Flint's children.

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